Reservists in Iraq launch appeal for dog food

Charities across the country have created drives to collect Bibles, space heaters, even DVDs for U.S. troops serving in Iraq. But our four-legged personnel need urgent help too:

The commander of an Army Reserve detachment is begging friends back home to send food for Iraqi police dogs. "The dogs are starving and urgently need dry dog food," Capt. Gabriella Cook, commander of the Las Vegas-based 313th Military Police Detachment, said in a Dec. 28 e-mail reported Wednesday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Some of them have already died," Cook wrote. "Half of them are sick. We have no way of buying actual dog food here." Cook's unit arrived last month in the Iraq capital. She said 12 German shepherds and one black Labrador retriever trained for bomb-detection and attack at the Iraqi Police Academy in Baghdad have been eating table scraps and garbage. "It seems like an emergency situation," Diana Paivanas, a Henderson pet-care provider and Cook's friend, told the Review-Journal. "Something needs to be done now to save these dogs."

Since Muslim culture views dogs as unclean, kibble is difficult to come by. If you want to help, contact the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society.